


Aquatic Dynamics

by SimplyMusicality



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aquarium AU, Fluff, M/M, eventual Klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-08-19 20:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8223761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyMusicality/pseuds/SimplyMusicality
Summary: Klance Aquarium AU*Author's Note with Story Updates Added*Lance never knew what he wanted to do with his life. Chance found him in the right place and a right time to get a job he loves- at the local aquarium. This wasn't Keith's plan A. Or even plan B. But just maybe he can work this out.





	1. Promoted and it Feels So Good

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this super cute drawing of a Klance aquarium AU by illusbal on tumblr!
> 
> Also, this is un-betaed, thus subject to edits. *Title subject to change*

"Who can tell me what this is?" 

Lance watched as the kids sitting in front of him, hands shooting into the air and squirming as they sat criss-cross in front of him. Their tiny faces twisted with determination, struggling to keep the answer inside. They wiggling their hands, trying to get his attention. They begged to be called on. Lance looked out into the sea of blue shirts, all emblazoned with the Legends Aquarium logo. "Umm..." He mused as they all started to squirm again. He caught the eye of a small girl sitting in the back. She had bright red hair pulled into pigtails and freckles that adorned her small face, scrunched up into a look of sheer determination. "Alexi." He read off of the name tag sticking to her oversized t-shirt. "Do you know what animal this is?"

"It's a penguin!" She exclaimed exasperatedly, body finally relaxing as she let the answer out into the world. Lance chuckled, petting the feathers of the bird in his arms.

"Good! Can anyone tell me what kind?" The crowd was slower to respond this time, taking its time to think.

Summers were the _best_.

The aquarium held these summer camps for elementary and middle school aged kids, and they were the best moments of Lance's life. Honestly, this age group was the best. Unspoiled by the educational system, they were so eager to learn. They were so filled with wonder, and this unabashed curiosity that warmed Lance's heart. It reminded him of home, of his younger siblings. He'd moved away to attend college, and had planned to move back after college. He'd never dreamed that he would find the opportunity that he did here at Legends. 

"What do you think, Daniel?" He asked a small brown haired boy sitting on the end of the group.

"A black and white one?" Lance chuckled.

"Well, yes. But not what I was looking for." A lot of the hands went down. Some timid ones rose again.

"My friend Arwen here..." He scratched the penguin's head affectionately. "Is an African penguin." Immediately more hands shot up.

Lance hadn't been sure what he wanted to do in college. He'd remained undeclared his first year, just getting all of his required classes out of the way. Then after he'd finished those, he figured he should probably declare some major. He'd gotten a nice scholarship, but his family was paying for the remainder, and he didn't ant them paying for more than they had to. He'd talked about it with his best friend Hunk, and he'd recommended psychology. It was still kind of a blank slate. There were so many random things you could do with it. 

"Why are there penguins in Africa? Isn't that where the lions come from? I thought that only the- the only animals that like the hot can live in Africa." Lance looked at the kid who had spoken. 

"Well, Brendon, I'm glad you brought that up." Lance smiled. "... Even if you didn't raise your hand." The other kids instantly turned to their gaze to Brendon. "It's okay guys." He assured them. Second graders were the best. Hyper attentive to the rules, and calling each other out for not following them. It was hilarious. "Lions do live in Africa. But, not in the same place." Lance clarified. "Lions live in the Savannah, but the penguins live by the ocean." 

Hunk is Lance's best friend in the _entire_ world. Honestly, he was the best. Late night study sessions? He's got you. Need a wingman to score that 10 on the other side of the bar? He's on it. Just wanna lowkey cuddle and watch Netflix with your best bro? No problem. So, when Hunk asked if Lance wanted to join him volunteering at the aquarium, of course Lance went with him. Hunk needed the volunteer hours to complete his biology major. Lance was just there to hang out. He had no idea he'd love it this much. And what was one of those random jobs you can get with a psych degree? Zookeeper. So, when Hunk applied for the permanent position right after graduation? Lance was right there with him. 

Lance finished up his session of teaching the camp. He told everyone a little bit more about African penguins. Their diet, their life... And then everyone got to pet Arwen. Very gently, and one at a time. Such things were very difficult to moderate with young children, but he'd done it long enough to where he was a practical expert. Everyone who is quiet and waits their turn gets a sticker. Kids would sell their own _abuelas_ for a sticker. He doesn't even need to say that kids who aren't patient don't get a turn. They all want that sticker.

"Good job Arwen." He pet the bird gently, entering the back hallways to take her back to her habitat. He was sure to stop by the nutrition center on the way, handing her a nice fish to snack on. "You know those kids love you. You're so great with them." He sweet talked the flightless bird and she preened. Lance grinned. Sure, in his area he also got to work with the beluga whales and the otters... But the penguins were the best. And they were even called jackass penguins. They were practically destined to work together. ... Even if their moniker was from the sounds they made and Lance's was from his personality. _Details, details.._.

Lance made sure Arwen was safe back in her exhibit before heading to the back room to clock out. It had been a great day, but he was exhausted. He yawned and stretched his arms above his head as he entered the breakroom. He needed to get home and shower because he and hunk had plans. Celebrating the end of the week at _Voltron's_ - their favorite bar. Lance hummed to himself as he walked over to the computer, wiggling the mouse to clear the screensaver before clocking out. As he stood up, a voice caught him off guard.

"Good job today, Lance."

"Thanks, Mr. Alfor. It means a lot." Mr. Alfor was the head guy. He ran the entire aquarium. Everything ran past him. Any ideas for exhibits, any kids programs, and changes to animal care... They all ran through Mr. Alfor. He was a great guy, and Lance had nothing but respect for him. But, Lance had never had direct praise before. He couldn't fight the smile on his face. 

"Just giving praise where it is due." Mr. Alfor looked over at Lance. "You know, since Nyma left, we need someone new to train staff." Lance remembered Nyma. She had trained him. And they had dated briefly. Very briefly. Lance tried not to think about it too much. "Your supervisor recommended you. What do you say? We just hired someone and their first day is tomorrow. You up for it?"

"Sure thing." Lance was never one to back down from a challenge. Though, this didn't seem like much of a challenge. Teach someone else to do what he did and loved every day. No big deal. And, he was pretty sure it came with a nice bonus. 

"Good." Mr. Alfor appeared pleased. "We could use more employees like you, Lance." As Mr. Alfor left the room, Lance allowed himself a small celebration. Pumping the air with his fist, doing a so not embarrassing dance. That's right, who's getting a raise? Hunk was going to be _so_ stoked.

~

"So Mr. Alfor just promoted you to a trainer? Like, _himself_? In person?" Hunk asked, placing his beer back on the bar. He seemed to think about it a moment, before shaking his head. "Nope. Don't buy it."

"What?!" Lance threw his hands in the air in an overwhelmingly dramatic gesture. Hunk worked in the interactive kids zone in the aquarium, and was dang good at it. The kids loved him. He'd even been a camp counselor there a few years, but was taking this year off to focus on some summer classes. Lance was secretly glad. When Hunk was working as a counselor, he didn't have a Friday night drinking buddy. "What do you mean you don't buy it?! It's what happened! I was _there_!" 

"Yeah... You're good, but I don't think you're that good. Not to be told directly from the head boss." Hunk rested his arms against the bar, waiting for Lance's reaction. As Lance inhaled, ready to go off on his friend when Hunk cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Dude. I'm kidding." Hunk laughed as Lance rolled his eyes. "For real though, that's incredibly awesome. I'm proud of you." Hunk reached over and nudged his friend's arm. "Who knew that _this_ is where you'd end up?" Lance laughed. 

"Right? I mean, I had no idea what I wanted to do." Lance swirled around the straw in his mojito. "I thought about teaching, but I couldn't bring myself to actually pursue it. And there were all of these things that would be useful degrees to have, and would make money, but I didn't love any of it." He shrugged, watching the straw push all of the ice in the glass in little circles. "And I didn't do much extracurricular stuff in high school. Band was fun, but I was never great at it..." Lance pushed out his lips, lost in thought. "It's funny how life happens. There's so much chance involved in it all. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I'm so glad that we both had to sit out of recess that day in fourth grade." 

"I don't know if I'd go that far, man." Hunk took a sip of his beer. "I mean, yeah chance and the unpredictability of life and whatever but I stand by that I did nothing wrong and was passing the note back to-"

"- Yeah yeah, you were passing the note back to Emily so you wouldn't get in trouble. You know, if you had just kept passing it, maybe you wouldn't have gotten caught."

"Yeah. Then I wouldn't be sitting here next to you." 

"Maybe I would be sitting here with Emily." Lance suggested with a shrug. "Maybe we'd be working together in a law firm, or something super boring like that."

"Maybe you'd be _married_." Hunk suggested, trying his best to keep a straight face and failing. 

"Oh please." Lance sipped at his mojito. "That childhood friends trope is _so_ overdone." 

"But it happens, dude." 

"Whatever. I'm just glad I didn't have to sit out of recess alone." Lance waved the bartender over, asking for a water and closing out his tab.

"You just couldn't resist pulling the little girls' pigtails. You should be glad it isn't affecting your job now."

"Hey, Allura is a total babe now." Even if she was Mr. Alfor's daughter and as such totally unapproachable, it was still true. "Beauty _and_ brains." She had the second best job in the aquarium. She trained and worked with the dolphins, a gig second only to Lance's own.

"Definitely." Hunk agreed, closing out his own tab. "Funny how she ended up working at the same place. It's a small world." 

"And she has total eyes for the hottie in the whale shark exhibit." Lance disclosed with a wink. Allura had been chatting up Shiro more and more regularly. It had started with work social events, casual glances and a 'how are you'. Then they were hanging out more in smaller groups, and Lance had even seen Shiro invite her to the movies last week.

" _Shiro_?" Hunk asked. "No way!"

"Mhmm. And he's reciprocating." When they'd first met Shiro, he'd be a little closed off and distant. He was never keen on talking about himself. Maybe he'd felt like an outcast because of his prosthetic arm. Lance had never been sure, but he was glad to see the man opening up to them more. Shiro was one of the kindest guys Lance had ever met, and he valued their budding friendship.

"That's great!" Hunk shared Lance's enthusiasm. While Shiro didn't like to talk about it, he'd been through a lot. He deserved happiness. "Split the uber home?" Hunk asked, though he didn't really need too. It was routine by now. 

"Duh." Lance stood from the stool and did a little stretch. While they didn't share an apartment anymore, they did still live in the same complex. It made their nights out super convenient. Well, unless Lance drank too much. Then Hunk left him to figure out his own transportation. He definitely had _not_ barfed in an uber once and destroyed Hunk's passenger rating. 

~

After paying his half of the uber, Lance bid Hunk goodbye and made his way up the steps to his apartment. It was incredibly small, as aquarium work didn't pay much, but it was one of the first things in his life that was truly his. He'd worked hard to get to this little studio apartment in the city, and he took pride in it. He had a twin bed tucked against the wall, neatly made before he'd left for work this morning, a screen dividing it from the rest of the room. In the rest of the room he had a decent TV and gaming system, across from an old blue futon he'd gotten from a friend. Strands of lights and a well placed rug helped bring the whole thing together, truly making it feel like a home. Lance ditched his shoes by the door and relaxed onto his bed. It was always more comfortable after a long day's work. He felt his eyes beginning to drift shut, before he quickly opened them again. " _Crap_." He cursed, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and calling his mom.

"Hey, Mama." Lance greeted her. Man, he'd almost forgotten. He would give her a call every week, just to let her know what was going on and to hear about how his siblings were doing. He missed them all terribly, and was usually more interested in listening about them. This week, however, he had news. Sure enough, his mom was elated to hear about his raise and promotion. Lance could hear the pride in her voice, and it made his heart swell. _I'm proud of you,_ mijo. Lance grinned. They must have talked for an hour before he could hear his mom yawn on the other end.

"I'll go ahead and let you go so you can get some sleep." He told her after hearing the third yawn.

"Well you too. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Your fancy promotion and all of that." Lance laughed.

"Yeah I guess we both need some sleep then. ... I miss you mama." 

"I miss you too. But you're doing so well out there. Good luck tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too." Lance hung up with a smile on his face, tossing his phone on the charger before cuddling up with his pillow. Now with his mother's blessing, he was officially ready to face tomorrow. Mr. Alfor was _not_ going to regret this.


	2. Author's Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's Update: Chapter 2 Coming Soon?

Hi! Simply here!

Long time no see, eh?

Some updates on my life:

\- I graduated college! That's kind of exciting right? 

\- I'm gonna be 21 in a few days! (And I am HYPE) 

\- I'm job hunting (Which is hella stressful) 

Some updates on this story:

\- So since I've been a bit busy, this hasn't updated in a while, but the continuous pings of kudos have not gone unnoticed

\- I'm gonna work on an outline for the rest of this story, and I'm gonna try and have an update up sometime this following week!

Thanks for everyone who has stuck around and I'll see you on the continuation of this adventure ^^

*This Chapter to be updated with the actual chapter content*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr! artsy-bassoonist
> 
> I also do a LOT of my writing through roleplay! Hit me up to roleplay anything from Voltron to FFXV (and other things too) on rpnation.com! @SimplyMusicality


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